3 Best Features of the New Control4 Software Update

You can experience further integration, control, and customization with the latest Control4 O.S. 2.9 software. Whether you want to personalize your user interface, add your preferred smart devices or literally tell your system what to do, it’s all possible with the home automation company’s latest upgrade. As your local Control4 dealers in Barrington, IL, we’d like to show you some of the coolest features revealed earlier this year at CEDIA 2016.

Since it hit the mainstream market with a pair of Super Bowl commercials earlier this year, Amazon’s Alexa has become one of the most popular systems in the smart home market. Through voice commands, you can turn devices on and off or ask questions just like you would Siri on your iPhone. Now you can use those same voice commands in your home automation system.

Clients can access individual devices that are compatible with Amazon. Tell the lights to dim down or the thermostat to lower a few degrees. The coolest thing about the latest integration, though, is the ability to activate your Control4 smart scenes to manage multiple components at once. Say “Party On” and the lights change color and your pre-planned playlist begins playing.

Easier to Add Z-Wave Devices

Admittedly this piece of news may be more welcome to Control4 dealers, but the benefits will undoubtedly trickle down to clients. Though Z-Wave products could be included in Control4 systems in the past, it took a complicated two-way feedback process. The new O.S. 2.9 now lets you treat Z-Wave devices as ‘native devices' making it easier to integrate them. With the new upgrade, it takes less time to set up your system, and there's less room for error.

So why should you care about Z-Wave? It’s a type of mesh network used by many smart devices since it takes up less energy than Wi-Fi. The new Z-Wave integration lets us offer more product options for our clients when designing their systems. For example, you could easily include The Mouser, a mouse trap that uses electric shock to kill mice and notifies you as soon as a mouse is caught.

Customize Your System with Experience Buttons

If you’re looking for a way to add some personality to your Control4 user interface, the Experience Buttons in the O.S. 2.9 software are a great start. These feature dynamic graphic images on the client's favorites menu. You can have flames to signal a fireplace being on or a colored lightbulb to let you know which lights are on in a particular room.

As your local dealers, we can help you install a Control4 system to take advantage of these features or upgrade your current one.